


Never Forgetting

by CreatorXXIII



Series: Always Watching, Never Forgetting [5]
Category: Hermitcraft RPF, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Cyborg Jevin, False has depression, Fire Demon Tango, Gen, Grian wants death, Super Human Xisuma, Watcher False, Watcher Grian, lab AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:42:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 8,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25290004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CreatorXXIII/pseuds/CreatorXXIII
Summary: Sorry that I deleted this work, I didn't like the feel of the first chapter so I got rid of it. I hope that you can forgive me. - CreatorXXIIISo this was an idea I came up with after reading a fic called "This isn't Hermitcraft", I thought that since that fic was so good, I would try out the idea myself. anyway, the plot for this is that in the last (large) fic I wrote for this series (Always Watching), I had Grian and False become watchers (minor gods in this fic), but now them and a few of the other hermits suddenly wake up in a lab of sorts and are told that the other hermits never existed outside of a simulation. (I'm done now, go read the fic if you want to know more.)
Relationships: Grian/Falsesymmetry
Series: Always Watching, Never Forgetting [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1813366
Comments: 13
Kudos: 37





	1. Cleo

Cleo’s eyes snapped open, she is laying on a cot in the corner of an empty room made of white concrete. Sits up and notices that there are multiple IVs in her arms,

“Where am I?” she asks herself, 

“Ah, Ms. Cleo,” says a man wearing a lab coat, “It is good to see that you are awake.”

“Who are you?” asks Cleo, “where are the others?”

“I am Dr. Gilbert Rotter,” replies the man, “and um, I don’t know what you mean by, ‘the others’.”

“Where are my friends?!” asks Cleo, her voice starting to become more angry,

“Oh, you must be referring to the simulation,” Rotter says, a hint of fear in his voice, “it can be very convincing,”

“What do you mean ‘simulation’?” asks Cleo,

“A few years ago,” replies Rotter, “you signed up to be put in a simulation so that we could find a way to make you live forever, you have been woken up because it worked.”

“So my friends don’t exist?” asks Cleo,

“I am sorry to inform you, Ms. Cleo that yes, they never were real.” replies Rotter, “would you like me to take you to your quarters?”

“How do I know that you aren’t lying to me?” asks Cleo,

“I have the documents that you signed at the start of this with me,” replies Rotter, he then takes out a stack of documents that are stapled together, one of which has Cleo’s signature on it.

“Oh,” says Cleo, “sorry, I just wanted to be sure… “

“Don’t apologize,” replies Rotter, “I understand and you had full rights to do that, now, would you like me to take you to your quarters?”

Cleo nods, her heart in pieces, Rotter walks over and removes the IVs from Cleo’s arms and helps her stand up, he then walks her to her quarters, a medium sized iron room with a bed, a dresser, a desk with laptop, and a full bathroom. Cleo thanks the doctor for his help and then begins to look around; everything in the room is made of metal, the bed, the desk, the dresser, even the doors.

“I’ll be going now,” says Rotter, “I’ll be back in the morning for testing.” 

Cleo gives the doctor a confused look, “testing?”

“Yes,” replies Rotter, “you’re a living corpse now, I need to make sure that you can survive the outside world as well as find what your limits are.”

“Oh,” replies Cleo with a friendly smile, “now that you mention it, I guess that makes sense. Well, I’ll see you in the morning then.”

“Good day, Ms. Cleo,” replies Rotter, he then walks down the hallway and out of sight, Cleo looks down at her torn clothes,

“I should change,” says Cleo, she then goes over to her dresser and opens it, inside are neatly stacked piles of clean clothes, Cleo picks out a set, showers, and starts to get changed into a new set of clothes… that is, until she discovers that there is a small blue light on the insides of each of her wrists, “huh,” says Cleo, “that's weird,”

* * *

Xisuma ran, his feet hitting the ground, propelling him forward, away from the beasts he feared. He had seen Doc get ripped to pieces by the beasts, there had been flesh and metal everywhere, he had wanted to stay and fight the beasts, but his family’s infamy had stopped him. He was XisumaVoid, not the Doom Slayer; he was not his father. Xisuma stopped, he was surrounded, the beasts had found him.


	2. Xisuma, son of infamy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xisuma was told that his life was a lie, that his friends don't exist. Xisuma called bullshit.

Xisuma ran, his feet hitting the ground, propelling him forward, away from the beasts he feared. He had seen Doc get ripped to pieces by the beasts, there had been flesh and metal everywhere, he had wanted to stay and fight the beasts, but his family’s infamy had stopped him. He was XisumaVoid, not the Doom Slayer; he was not his father. Xisuma stopped, he was surrounded, the beasts had found him. Xisuma took a deep breath, closed his eyes, pulled out his crossbow and his sword, and killed every last one of the beasts without breaking a sweat. Xisuma then continues to run, he makes his way to the lab and through the door in under a minute before collapsing on the floor, exhausted.

“Impressive,” says Rotter, “you have outdone yourself again, your new record is 4 minutes, 36 seconds.”

“Is Doc okay?” asks Xisuma as he struggles to stand up,

“Cyborg 77 was created with this in mind,” replies Rotter, “he’s a cyborg and he was created to serve beside you. You may now return to your quarters.”

“You didn’t answer…” begins Xisuma,

Doctor Rotter looks Xisuma in the eyes, “Cyborg 77 will be in working condition and will be ready the next time they are needed, now please, return to your quarters.”

Xisuma nods and hangs up the crossbow and sword before leaving the room and beginning the walk to his quarters, his metal combat boots filling the narrow hallway with the sounds of a soldier walking, a soldier that Xisuma didn’t want to be. When he woke up here, the doctor had told him that his friends had never existed, that Doc was a soulless metal husk whose only purpose was to do Xisuma’s bidding. Xisuma didn’t buy it, not even for a second. The Doctor had told him that he had been in crio-status for a few thousand years and that hermitcraft had been a figment of his dreams, that he was the sole surviving child of the infamous Doom Slayer, a man who had traveled to hell and killed countless demons for no reason other then it was fun for them. When Xisuma reaches his room, he locks the door behind him, steps out of his armor, and lays down on his bed. It it a few seconds before he slams his fist on the call button,

“Yes?” answers a cheery female voice,

“Can you send Doc to my room?” asks Xisuma,

“Um, I’m sorry,” replies the receptionist, “who?”

“Can you send cyborg 77 to my room please?” says Xisuma, in a demanding tone,

“Of course,” she replies, “please state your number,”

“10,” says Xisuma, 

“Thank you,” replies the woman, “expect 77 soon,” the receptionist then hangs up, a few minutes later, Doc walks in, 

“Sorry about what happened out there today,” says Xisuma,

Doc seemingly ignores Xisuma and stands completely still,

“I know that you are supposed to be soulless but I have seen you do things independently. You were the mayor!” says Xisuma, “please talk to me,”

“What do you want me to say?” asks Doc before suddenly throwing several small EMPs at the walls, cutting the power in the room, “Xisuma, I don’t have much time. I’m sorry that I have been acting like this but I had no choice.” says Doc,

“What?!” says Xisuma, “why did you do that?”

“I had to shut down the bugs in the room,” replies Doc, his voice is full of fear and worry, “don’t trust Rotter, he trapped the others in containment and told them lies, Find Grian and False, don’t let anyone stop you, but play along with what is happening, don’t let anyone know what you know.” Doc quickly looks behind him before turning back to Xisuma and grabbing his shoulders, “promise me,”

“I promise,” says Xisuma, 

Doc looks behind at the door again, “I have to go, don’t follow me.” he then turns and effortlessly kicks down the iron door before turning back to Xisuma one last time, “Thanks for caring about me.” he then goes out the door and disappears down the hallway.

Xisuma’s vision then goes black.

* * *

Tango was cold, he was sitting, completely naked, in a room made of iron, full of ice. Rotter had said that it was going to be a short test of just how cold the temperature of a room could be before Tango’s powers kicked in on their own to save him from death. It had been three hours since Rotter said that, yet tango was still here, in a room, that was 200 degrees below zero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here is chapter 2, I hope you all like it.


	3. Fight Ice with Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Testing with Tango... and Dr. Rotter (I can't think of a better chapter summary)

Tango was cold, he was sitting, completely naked, in a room made of iron, full of ice. Rotter had said that it was going to be a short test of just how cold the temperature of a room could be before Tango’s powers kicked in on their own to save him from death. It had been three hours since Rotter said that, yet tango was still here, in a room, that was 200 degrees below zero.

Suddenly, Tango’s skin burst into flame, but not just any flame, it was a white flame. Tango stood up, the ice melting around him, his eyes glowing blood red, then he faints. When he reawakens, he is laying on a cot, wearing a medical gown, Dr. Gilbert Rotter stands over him,

“Ugh,” says Tango, rubbing his eyes, “what happened?”

“It seems that your body used up all its energy when it created the white flames,” replies Rotter, “I would recommend that next time, you try to coax your body into using a flame that isn’t so hot.”

“Do you have any headache medicine?” asks Tango, his forehead feeling as if it were throbbing,

“No,” replies Rotter, “I cannot prescribe any medicine, no matter what it is, to anyone unless they show multiple symptoms.”

“Oh,” says Tango, he had decided that if he mentioned his forehead now, it would only seem like he was begging,

“You may return to your room if you like,” says Rotter, “or we can continue with the tests,”

“Can we test something else about me?” asks Tango,

“Certainly,” replies Rotter, “follow me,” Rotter then guides Tango through a door and into a jungle area, “recently, one of my other test subjects went on a murder spree, so I locked him in here for our safety. Can you find him and deal with him?”

“You want me to kill someone?!” says Tango,

“At this point, I wouldn’t consider them human anymore,” replies Rotter, “they’re a killing machine and they need to be stopped. But if you give them the benefit of the doubt, I guess you could still consider them a someone rather than an it.”

“I’ll do it,” says Tango, “what do they look like?”

“Last I saw, they were wearing a full body suit of green combat armor.” replies Rotter,

* * *

Grian pulls off the headset and throws it on the floor, he is in a pitch black room, but he can feel that it is sterile as ever since he became a watcher, he could always sense the number of living things in the room; there are only two. Grian looks over at the other living thing, his eyes adjust and he rips the IVs from his arms before he rushes over to False, who is still asleep. He grabs the headset on False’s face and is about to remove it when he senses a third life form.

“Hello again, Grian.” One’s voice says, causing Grian to shiver, “If I were you, I wouldn’t remove that headset.”

“Why?” yells Grian, “why shouldn’t I?”

“Because if you do,” answers One, with a chuckle, “Your precious Falsesymmetry will die.”


	4. The Watchers

Grian pulls off the headset and throws it on the floor, he is in a pitch black room, but he can feel that it is sterile as ever since he became a watcher, he could always sense the number of living things in the room; there are only two. Grian looks over at the other living thing, his eyes adjust and he rips the IVs from his arms before he rushes over to False, who is still asleep. He grabs the headset on False’s face and is about to remove it when he senses a third life form.

“Hello again, Grian.” One’s voice says, causing Grian to shiver, “If I were you, I wouldn’t remove that headset.”

“Why?” yells Grian, “why shouldn’t I?”

“Because if you do,” answers One, with a chuckle, “Your precious Falsesymmetry will die.”

“What do you mean?” demands Grian,

“False has to wake up on her own,” replies One, “If you remove that headset, she will be violently ripped out of the simulation and her brain won’t be able to handle the experience.”

“How do I know that you aren’t lying?” asks Grian, a slight rage beginning to boil inside him,

“That’s the thing,” replies One, “you don’t. You just have to trust that I am telling the truth. It’s up to you, if I am lying, then you have nothing to lose, but if I am telling the truth… then well, you know what happens.”

Grian thinks for a second before removing his hand from the headset, he knows that One, despite his evil ways, prefers to tell the truth. “Now what?” asks Grian, 

“You will be under the care and watchful eyes of Dr. Rotter.” replies One, “Don’t try anything.”

A door then opens and two shadow-like creatures enter the room, they walk over to Grian and grab his arms before dragging him through the door, down an iron hallway, and strapping him in a chair. The shadows then exit the room, leaving Grian in the chair.

“Good afternoon,” says a man with pasty white skin and dressed in a lab coat, “I am Dr. Gilbert Rotter, I will be your caretaker for the foreseeable future.”

“Hi,” replies Grian, sarcastically,

“Oh don’t be like that,” says Rotter, “we wouldn’t want to start off on the wrong foot, because of what One told you, we’re just going to do some testing.”

“What kind of testing?” asks Grian, 

“Let me get my tools,” replies Rotter, “when I get back, I’ll show you.” Rotter then walks out of the room,

* * *

The world was quiet, False could tell as she walked through the mooshroom island that had become the shopping district, a place once full of life and happiness was now somehow cold and depressing.

“Helloooooo!” yells False, but no one answers, instead the sound of her voice bounces off the sides of the overgrown shops and buildings. False walks through the portal to the nether and begins walking around, checking any farms she can through holes in the bedrock. After determining that no one is in the nether, False walks back to the shopping district, emerging from the portal just in time to get hit by a flying Zedaph. False and Zed then are sent through the portal and into the nether.

“Zed!” yells False, “Next time, could you watch where you land?”

“Sorry,” replies Zed, “Found anyone?”

“No,” says False, “you?”

“Nope, I checked both jungles and the surrounding areas but still found no one.” replies Zed,

“Ugh,” says False, sitting down on a block of netherrack, “where did everyone go?” she then punches a wall nearby in anger, the wall crumbles like a poorly made cake, 

“What about the Aether?” asks Zed,

“Nothing,” replies False, “It was the second place I checked.”

“Wait,” says Zed, “I have an idea, I have a void hole, lets jump down and see where is takes us,”

False looks Zedaph in the eyes, “Please tell me your joking,”

“I’m not,” replies Zed, “Impulse punched a hole in the bedrock floor at my base.”

“That’s… not what I mean,” says False,

“Oh,” replies Zed, “Sorry,”

“No, no,” says False, “It was an interesting idea, but it just doesn’t seem safe.”

Zedaph sighs, “well, I’m going home. Yoyo needs to be fed.”

“Wait,” says False, “I’ll try the void thing.”

“Really?” asks Zed,

“Yes,” replies False, “but you need to go first,”

“Yippity dippity,” says Zed,

“Excuse my language, but what the fuck was that!?” asks False,

“I don’t know,” replies Zed, “I just felt like saying it… anyway let's get on with it.”

“First,” says False, “do you have another elitra, all of mine vanished and my watcher flight doesn’t work anymore.”

Zed quickly hands False an elytra before the two of them walk back through the portal and take off for Zed’s cave.


	5. The Pharaoh and The Slime

Cub slowly opened his eyes, around him lay the remnants of his pyramid, he sits up and brushes off the sand, his mind still getting up to speed on his predicament.

“Cub!” someone yells, “Help!”

Cub sits in the rubble for a moment longer as he starts to realize what has happened, then he hears Joe, he quickly gets up and runs over to Joe and helps get the sandstone pieces off of him.

“Thanks,” says Joe before standing up,

“No problem,” replies Cub, “have you seen anyone else?”

“No,” replies Joe, “I haven’t seen anyone,”

Cub is about to respond when he suddenly pulls out his sword and spins around just in time to block an attack from a pitch black shadow monster,

“What the?!” says Cub,

The shadow monster screeches and two more of them appear out of thin air, drawing swords as well,

Joe takes out an iron sword and a shield, “what are these things?!” he yells, while blocking a shadow’s relentless attack,

“I don’t know,” responds Cub, “This is my first time encountering them,”

One of the shadows then seemingly teleports behind Cub and proceeds to stab him through the lower back, Cub drops his sword and falls to the ground,

“You asked for it now,” yells Joe before angrily swinging his sword at the shadows, only for his sword to pass through them as if they weren't there.

Cub looks through his inventory and pulls out a bow, the shadows take no notice, he then fires a spectral arrow into one of the shadows, it immediately turns to smoke and dissipates into the air. The remaining shadows then disappear as their weakness has been exposed. Joe runs over to Cub and helps him to his feet, “Don’t die on me,” says Joe, “Don’t die.”

Cub takes out a syringe and stabs it into his arm before he stands up on his own, “Don’t worry, I’m fine, Stress had me doing this anyway to deal with my constant dehydration.”

“Thank god,” says Joe before he hugs Cub,

“Um,” asks Wels, “Do you two need a moment?”

“Wels!” says Cub, “where were you?”

“I was with Beef and XB,” says Wels, “when the pyramid broke, we jumped down the massive pit you had in your storage room.”

“Wait,” says Cub, “where’s Jevin?”

“I don’t know,” replies Wels, “the last time I saw him, we were still playing bullseye.”

* * *

Jevin was scared, it had only been what seemed like a few minutes since he had been with Cub and the others, but then again, he had just woken up, he could have been here for weeks for all he knew.

“Ah,” says the doctor, “I see that you are awake. It is a pleasure to see you again Subject 15, or did you want me to call you Jevin? I don’t remember, it has been too long.”

“Who are you?” asks Jevin, confused,

“I am Dr. Gilbert Rotter,” replies the doctor, “ten years and 3 months ago, you were sent here because of your rare disease that caused your flesh to become similar to gelatin. I was able to stop it from killing you by making you part robot.”

“No, Scar and Stress made me a cyborg by accident when they were trying to heal my wound from the watcher!” says Jevin, 

“Oh my,” replies Rotter, a concerned look on his face, “I think the simulation has caused you brain damage as you clearly don’t remember anything.”

“What simulation?” asks Jevin,

“It is worse than I thought,” remarks Rotter, “I need to begin operation at once,”

Jevin then feels a short lived but sharp pain in his arm before he goes unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please leave a kudos if you enjoyed (and if you really want, you can leave a comment too)


	6. Hello Darkness, My old friend

Zedaph had noticed something, something that made him worried; False had gone completely quiet ever since they had arrived at his cave. He had already decided that he wasn’t going to mention it as it didn’t seem like a good idea. For around the past hour, he and False had been trying to think of safe ways to use the void to find their friends… they hadn't thought of anything.

“Hey Zed?” asks False, “is it cold in here or is it just me?”

Zedaph stopped what he was doing and felt the air for a second, “I think it’s just you,” he replies, “either that or the cave is cold and I’m just used to how the cave feels.”

“Oh, okay,” says False, before shivering a little,

“Is there something you want to talk about?” asks Zed, “because if you do, I am more than willing to listen.”

“Yea,” replies False, a weak smile on her face, “I think I’d like that.”

Zedaph walks over to where False is sitting and plops himself down next to her, “what’s on your mind?” he asks,

“A lot of things,” replies False, “for the past few months, Grian and I have been working almost non stop to help as many servers as we can, and because of that we forgot to help out this place… and now it is falling apart and Grian was basically the head watcher but now he’s gone and I have no clue what is happening to the server and I insisted that I teach Grian how to fight better so he can defend himself but I’m still worried that I might have not done a good enough job and now I am just so stressed out.”

Zedaph looks at False, stunned, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know you were dealing with all that.”

False lets out a defeated laugh, “it’s fine, Xisuma and Grian were the only ones who understood, and probably One too.”

“But it’s clearly not fine,” says Zed, “you’re exhausted because of a job you clearly hate but you still do because you care about others more than you do yourself and you’re worried about someone who you have come to share a deep and meaningful connection with, and that’s okay… but it isn’t fine, you know what I mean?”

“Yes?” replies False, “I think I get what you’re trying to say but it is still a little confusing.”

Zedaph thinks for a moment before saying, “you hate being a watcher because you can’t spend as much time with your friends like you used to but you don’t want to leave and risk having Grian become like One.” says Zed, “I’m saying that you should feel fine with taking a break, I know that you told Grian that you’d stay a watcher to make sure that he doesn’t become like One but I have a question for you; do you trust Grian to do the right thing?!”

“I do but…” starts False,

“Then act like it!” yells Zed before noticing that False’s head is in her hands and she is crying, “Oh… I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“No,” says False, looking up at Zed, her cheeks red, “Don’t apologize, I needed that, thank… ” False then stands up, “we’re being watched,” she then summons a barrier block sword to her hand, Zed follows suit, taking out his own sword, the cave is silent for a few seconds before five pitch black shadow monsters appear out of thin air and surround them. False and Zedaph stand back to back as the number of shadows continue to grow, causing the two hermits to feel more and more hopeless until the number of shadows reaches ten.

“I don’t think we can win this,” says Zed,

“I’m going to have to agree with you there.” replies False, “Grian taught me how to sense how many living things are in the room, but these things don’t give off anything. The ten we see could be only the start and I would have no way of knowing.”

Suddenly the shadows all begin to close in on the pair, then a glowing gold arrow hits a shadow in the back and it turns to smoke, the other shadows then stop and three leave the group to go see where the arrow came from, this is followed by the sound of three swords hitting a stone floor and Cub landing next to False, holding a gold sword,

“Miss me?” asks Cub before throwing both Zedaph and False a gold sword, 

The shadows then attack but the combined force of the two best fighters on the server and Zedaph is too great and the remaining shadows don’t stand a chance. After the battle, Wels, Joe, Beef, and XB come out of hiding and there are hugs throughout.

“Thanks for the save,” says Zed, 

“No problem,” says Cub, “but don’t thank me, it was XB’s idea to come here.”

“No it wasn’t,” replies XB, “I thought… FALSE LOOK OUT!”

A shadow monster suddenly appears and stabs False in the upper back, it’s sword sticking out through her chest. The monster then pulls out it’s sword but is shot by Wels with an arrow before it can escape, reducing it to smoke.

False falls to the floor, a quickly growing pool of purple blood forming under her body.

Zedaph goes to help her but Beef stops him, “there’s no point Zed, it’s fatal.”

False looks up at the ceiling of the cave, her eyes turning white as she dies, before eventually her body turns to dust.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RIP False


	7. A Strange Encounter

“Um, Dr. Rotter,” asks Cleo, “may I ask a question?”

Dr. Rotter looks up from his tablet, “oh, of course,” he replies, “ask away!”

“So um, a few days ago, on the day I woke up, I was changing and I saw these blue lights in my wrists,” says Cleo, “I was wondering what they are?”

“Oh,” replies the doctor, “that is a safeguard against violent patients, all patients are required to have them just in case.”

“How come I have them?” asks Cleo,

“It is a standard procedure,” replies Rotter, “they will be removed when you have been deemed safe.”

“When I’m deemed safe?” asks Celo, “am I not?”

“While yes, you have been very cooperative Ms. Celo,” replies Rotter, “you must understand that I do not decide when you are safe, that is up to my employer. He will make the decision after he believes that you are 100% safe. You must also understand that it might take a while as you are not the only patient here.”

“Oh, okay,” says Cleo,

“Is there anything else?” asks Rotter,

“Could you show me how they work?” asks Celo, “I don’t see how two small lights can be a safeguard.”

“Are you sure,” asks Rotter, “it will hurt a lot as it is designed to pacify even the most unruly patients?”

“Um, nevermind,” replies Cleo, “can you just tell me instead?”

“Certainly,” replies Rotter, “those two lights, in reality, are very powerful electromagnets that have been bolted into your bones, if activated, they will force your hands together before electrocuting you to the point where you would fall unconscious.”

“Oh,” says Cleo, “I see why you warned me about them.”

“Is that all?” asks Rotter,

“Yes,” replies Cleo, “anyway, what is testing today?”

“I’m glad you asked,” replies Rotter, “today we will be testing the side effects of your immortality, specifically, how they affect others around you.”

“Huh, what do you mean?” asks Cleo before noticing that Rotter is gone,

“Cleo?” asks a voice, “is that you?”

Celo turns around, a woman with pitch black skin and short black hair stands there, her eyes are white and pupiless.

“Cleo?” it asks again, “can… you hear me?”

Cleo looks at the woman… no, the girl, “yes, I can hear you? How do you know my name?”

“You told me?” replies the girl, “do you remember me?”

“I’m sorry,” says Cleo, “I don’t know you,”

The girl falls to her knees, her eyes watering, “Cleo,” she mumbles, “we were best friends, how do you not know who I am?”

“Tell me your name,” says Cleo,

“Stress,” the girl replies, “my name is Stress,”

Cleo takes a step back, “you’re Stress?!” she says, in confusion, “but Stress has brown hair and brown eyes, you have black hair and white eyes.”

The girl grabs Cleo by the arms, for a split second, Cleo sees the girl with brown hair and eyes as well as pinkish-white skin, then it all goes back to black as the girl lets go of her arms and her wrists light up with a blue light before they are pulled together while an electrical shock causes the girl to fall to the floor, screaming in agony before she goes limp.

“Ms. Cleo,” says Rotter, standing on a balcony overlooking the chamber, “perhaps we should continue the testing later after the other patient learns her lesson.”

“I have a request.” says Cleo,

“Yes, what is it?” asks Rotter,

“May the other patient stay with me?” asks Cleo, “I think that I might be able to help.” 

“No,” replies Rotter, “sub…” Rotter then coughs before continuing, “patients are not allowed to help in punishing other patients,”

“But..” Cleo starts,

“I am sorry, but that is the rules.” says Rotter, two more pitch black creatures then enter the chamber, a feeling of pure dread washes over Cleo as they walk past, they might look like the girl but they don’t give off the same vibes, the two pin the girl to the floor and stick a syringe in her arm, waking her up almost immediately, they then escort her out of the room. As they leave, Cleo notices the swords on their backs, they’re made of netherrite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is another chapter about Cleo. I hope you all like it.


	8. Xisuma

It was midnight, the lab, or the prison, as Xisuma had come to call it was cool and dry, Xisuma pressed a button on the wall and the door slid upwards into the ceiling, allowing Xisuma to enter the testing room,

“Oh, subject 10,” Rotter says in a surprised but happy tone, looking up from his work, “I didn’t expect you would be up so late, do you… need anything?”

Xisuma might have been sweating inside the green combat armor but he ignored it, “yes,” he replies, “I had a question and I thought you might be able to give me an answer.”

“Oh,” says Rotter, “well then ask away, I’m always happy to help.”

“I was wondering,” says Xisuma, the sound waves of Xisuma’s voice becoming slightly robotic as they passed through the filter of his helmet, “if you could tell me where my friends are.”

“I’m sorry,” replies Rotter, “I don’t know what you mean? I’m the only person besides Subject 77 who has talked to you in over a thousand years.”

“Stop playing dumb,” says Xisuma, his anger showing, “You know exactly what I am talking about and where they are! You may be a good liar, but you’re not good enough to fool me.”

“My contract states that I am not allowed to give subjects information like that,” explains Rotter, “now please, return to your quarters.”

“No,” replies Xisuma, “and speaking of your contract, who is your employer?”

“Both of us would die if I told you that.” replies Rotter, “And I genuinely care about your health and well being, so I don’t want you to die.”

“You only care about my health because if I get hurt, your tests won’t be as accurate. If you aren't going to tell me anything,” says Xisuma, “then I’m going to go and find out on my own.” Xisuma then turns around and begins to walk to the door when his wrists suddenly are pulled together and an indescribable pain shoots through his body causing him to fall to his knees crying and bleeding before he falls completely to the floor.

“No you’re not,” replies Rotter, he then presses a button on the wall before walking out the door,

“You won’t stop me that easily,” says Xisuma to himself, before pulling his wrists apart, disconnecting the top half of his armor from his body and standing up, he then rips the electromagnets out of his wrists. “You made me this way,” Xisuma then body slams the door, sending it flying down the hallway, he runs down the hallway and eventually catches up to Rotter only for him to vanish and reappear farther away,

“Did you think that I wouldn’t give myself the ability to teleport?!” says Rotter, “To have access to all this and not give myself some helpful abilities would be stupid, especially with you trying to kill me.” Rotter then disappears again,

Xisuma runs down the hallway, turning on his magnetic boots as he runs, he then turns a corner and busts through another door into a larger hallway, full of pitch black shadow creatures. Xisuma stops, catches the sword of an attacking shadow, and then kills it with the sword before massacring the rest and running down the hallway to a door. Xisuma kicks open the door and walks in, the room is large and dark but Xisuma can still see the doors lining the walls… they’re made of obsidian. Xisuma quickly turns around and blocks an attack from Rotter with his newly acquired gold sword, he then discards the weapon as it has been reduced to a bent and useless gold stick. 

“What are you?!” asks Xisuma, confused,

“The same as you; genetically enhanced.” replies Rotter, Xisuma then punches Rotter in the chest, sending him flying into the wall. Rotter teleports behind Xisuma and trips him but Xisuma grabs Rotter’s leg and pulls him down to the floor, he then gets up and tries to impale Rotter with his foot but Rotter roles out of the way, jumps up, grabs Xisuma’s left arm, and snaps it in two.

“If I were you, I'd surrender,” says Rotter, “before you get too involved.” 

Xisuma then knees Rotter in the crotch before grabbing his neck in a headlock, “that’s what makes us different,” replies Xisuma before suddenly being thrown into a wall,

“Hello again Xisuma,” says One, his white and black patchwork of a form walking towards him, “I must say, I am impressed with your skill in combat, you have improved since we last met.”

“No,” says Xisuma, shocked, “you’re dead, I saw it happen. I held you down as you died.”

“Yes, you did.” replies One, “but Grian and False forgot to banish my soul, so I resurrected.” One then holds up his hand, a black flame sits in it, burning. “I’m going to kill you now,” says One, “then I’m going to punish Rotter for his stupidity in letting the cyborg stay with you in the first place and for giving you access to weapons, and finally; I’m going to resurrect you with no memories at all.”

“If you could do that this entire time, why didn’t you just do it at the start?” asks Xisuma,

“Because I thought it would be easier to not have to teach you all the basics of life and communication and I didn’t want to be working with a bunch of adult babies.” replies One, he then sets Xisuma’s left arm on fire, the black flames immediately start burning away the flesh causing Xisuma to cry out in pain, “Quiet you,” snaps One before making Xisuma unable to speak.

“Rotter,” says One, “go and fix yourself up, then meet me in my wing of the lab.”

“And what of the body?” asks Rotter, glancing at his attempted killer who is slowly burning alive,

“I’ll get some of the useless ones to clean it up, at that point, they’ll only see a pile of ash.” replies One, 


	9. Mistakes were made

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I can understand if you all hate me after this chapter, I won't blame you.

False’s eyes snap open, she feels something on her face and tries to brush it away, her hand hits a pair of goggles of some sort, she removes them and sits up. She is in a dark room, the whirring of machines emulates throughout the room.

“Hello?” says False,

The whirring continues uninterrupted for a few seconds before False notices a heavy breathing in the room. A few months ago, Grian had taught her how to sense the number of living things in the room, but she didn’t need that to know she wasn’t alone.

“I know someone’s there, who is it!” demands False,

Grian then walks out from behind the veil darkness, his face is red from tears and his purple eyes are full of sadness. “I’m sorry,” says Grian, “I’m sorry False, I’ve failed.”

False looks at Grian confused, “what do you mean?” she asks,

“One isn’t dead, I forgot to banish his soul and now he is alive again.” replies Grian,

“What?!” yells False, “no, you’re messing with me.”

Grian gives a pathetic laugh, “I wish I was,” he replies, “Trust me, I really do. But if that were the case, we wouldn’t be here.”

“What do you mean by ‘here’?” asks False,

“I don’t know,” replies Grian, he then sniffles before continuing, “It’s been over two weeks now since I woke up here, but it has felt like months. The only way I was able to stay sane was by talking to you about my day and all the horrible things I am put through, today… “ Grian starts to cry, “ Today I couldn’t bring myself to talk.” Grian then falls to his knees, his head in his hands,

False tries to get off the cot she is sitting on but feels a tugging on her arms, she then notices that there are four IVs in each arm; she pulls them out and kneels down next to Grian on the floor, False moves Grian’s hands away from his face causing him to look up at her, tears still rolling down his face,

“It’s alright,” says False, a warm smile on her face, “we’ll get through this, just like we have everything else, we’ll get through this together and we’ll win.”

Grian sniffles, “I need to tell you something, but I don’t know if I have the strength to do it.”

“Take your time,” replies False, “I’ll wait.”

The two of them then continue kneeling there on the floor for another 46 minutes before Grian says that he’s ready to talk,

“I need you to promise me something before I tell you.” says Grian, “I need you to promise me that if we win and One dies, that you’ll kill me.”

“What?!” says False, “why?!”

“Just promise me,” says Grian, “please, if you do, I’ll tell you why and you’ll understand.”

“Grian,” says False, “isn’t there another way for you to tell me?”

“No,” replies Grian, “I need you to promise me this.”

“Fine,” says False, 

“No,” replies Grian, “not fine, give me your word.”

“I promise,” says False, “don’t ask for me to say the whole thing, I won't.”

Grian sighs, “when I first woke up here, One told me that if I woke you up, you would die. I knew that One wouldn’t lie about that so I didn’t do anything. A few days later, One gave me a deal; he would safely wake you up if I did as he asked.”

“Grian, what did you do?” asks False,

“One asked me to help him with something… he led me into a room, Ren and Impulse were in there, tied to chairs.” Grian starts to cry but continues talking, “apparently, they had been told to do something by One’s minion; Dr. Rotter, but they refused and had even tried to fight him.”

“Grian…” says False,

“One told me to use my powers… to hurt them.” says Grian, “You can probably guess what I did… and I understand if you hate me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RIP Grian


	10. Direct Intervention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> you'll see =)

One sat back comfortably in his cactus green leather chair, his feet up on his desk and his hands behind his head. He was alone in his office, all was quiet… until it wasn’t.

“You’re going down a dark path George,” says a man with skin as white as paper, his voice was deep, but only slightly. On each wrist, the man wore a pitch black bracelet while a pair of smoke gray wings protruded from his shoulders, “I care for you as a father would his child, and I am not referring to your father, he got what he deserved.” as he spoke, his eyes glowed red, the color of blood,

“Gah!” yells One, falling over in his chair, “X, I haven’t seen you in ages.” One says, “How is running the universe going?” a hint of nervousness in his voice,

“Stop,” the man says, “I am giving you a warning, 2000 years ago you made me a promise. Do you intend to keep it?”

“Of course,” replies One, “I assure you, I am only getting revenge on the ones who betrayed me. After that, I shall stop, I give you my word.”

“Blood oath,” the man says, 

One sighs, he then summons a small barrier black dagger and cuts a line in his left palm, “I promise that I am still loyal to the watcher code, if I am a farce, then may the creator strike me down.” One then lets his blood drip into the man’s outstretched hand, it then catches on fire, a black fire.

“Good,” replies the man, “I will be watching you… and remember; do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” The man then is gone, leaving One alone in his office, a dagger in hand and completely and utterly terrified.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that this is short but I made this in around 30 minutes.


	11. The Beginning of the End

“Stress,” says Iskall, “please, everyone is worried.”

“Not everyone,” replies Stress, curled up in a ball in the corner of the room, “Cleo isn’t, she didn’t even recognize me!”

“Stress please,” says Iskall, but it’s no use; Stress ignores him and continues crying in the corner. Iskall sighs before leaving the room,

“I’m assuming that she isn’t coming.” says Mumbo,

Iskall nods, “the thing is, she isn’t overreacting, I think that I would act the same way.”

Dr. Rotter then enters the room, “you two,” he says, “follow me,”

Iskall and Mumbo follow the doctor out of the room, down a hallway, and into another room,

“Hi… guys,” mumbles Xisuma, laying down on a metal table, 

“Shush,” says Rotter, “save your strength, I don’t need yet another dead subject.”

“Where’s his arm?” asks Mumbo, looking at Xisuma’s left side,

“I removed it so that he wouldn’t die,” replies Rotter, “I need the two of you to help me fix him,”

“I can understand wanting Iskall’s help with, i’m assuming robotics, but why not get Impulse to help?” asks Mumbo,

“Subjects 44 and 62 are currently in isolation together until they are deemed mentally stable.” replies Rotter, “In case you don’t understand that, Subject 44 is Impulse and 62 is Ren.”

“What happened?” asks Iskall, 

“I am not allowed to give details,” replies Rotter, “but let's just say that your friend Grian was involved in it.”

“What?!” exclaims Iskall, “what…”

Rotter cuts him off, “I am forbidden from telling you anything else, let us now help your friend here.”

“Okay?” says Iskall, “what were you thinking?”

“I removed his arm.” replies Rotter, “You have a robotic eye. Help me make him a new arm.”

“Oh,” says Iskall, 

For the next few hours, Rotter, Mumbo, and Iskall work on a new arm for Xisuma. Then, after several failed prototypes and countless altercations, Xisuma has two arms again. Xisuma gets down off the table and flexes his new arm,

“I don’t know how you did it,” says Xisuma, 

“You’re welcome,” replies Rotter, he then turns to Iskall and Mumbo, “bring him back to the barracks… and don’t try anything.”

“Why do they need to bring me back?” asks Xisuma,

“Two reasons,” replies Rotter, “one; you don’t know how to get there, and two; after you passed out, One made it so that you can stand but can’t walk on your own.”

Iskall and Mumbo then get on either side of the super soldier and help him walk out of the room,

When the three hermits return, Iskall and Mumbo help Xisuma sit down before they both collapse to the floor in exhaustion,

“Dude,” says Mumbo in between breaths, “how are you so heavy?”

“I don’t know,” replies Xisuma, 

“I have a question,” says Iskall, “Rotter mentioned One, does he mean…?”

“Yes,” says Xisuma, “Rotter was referring to the watcher, I saw him not too long ago… he’s deadly.”

Iskall was about reply when Keralis walked out of his room, “Shashwammy?!” he says, shocked, Keralis then runs over and gives Xisuma a hug, before going to get the others,

After everyone else is gathered around, Xisuma starts answering questions, 

“Where have you been?” asks Scar,

“I’ve been here,” replies Xisuma, “I was told that you guys didn’t exist.”

“What?!” Says Bdubs,

“I should also tell you that One isn’t dead,” says Xisuma, “apparently, Grian and False forgot to banish his soul or something, either way; this isn’t looking good for us.”

“What about Brian and Falsey?” asks Keralis,

“I don’t know, but I can guarantee that One let them know he is alive, so they are most likely planning something.”

Stress then comes out of her room, walks over to the group, and sits down, “Do you know where Impulse and Ren are?” she asks, her eyes bloodshot,

“This is the first time that I have seen any of you in, I think, over a week. So I don’t know, I can only assume that… “ Xisuma stops, his metal arm then sparks a little before a projection of the server settings list comes up, “what the?! I haven’t been admin for months?” Xisuma then quickly scrolls through the list until he finds what he wants, “Guys,” says Xisuma, “I have good news; I know where everyone is.”

* * *

“It seems that your plan to have your boss ignore you, has failed.” says Rotter,

One doesn’t reply,

“Especially considering that Subject 10 got his admin powers back and you do not seem to be able to undo it.” says Rotter,

“Shut up mortal,” yells One, “I know it failed, I knew as soon as he made me do a blood oath,”

“How?” asks Rotter, 

“because normally; the blood doesn’t catch on fire after it drips… I was tricked and now I will die, but I still have a plan… I won’t fall alone.”


	12. End of Imprisonment

Grian and False woke up to a loud bang, then a few seconds of silence, then another bang and the sound of something heavy hitting a metal floor. Xisuma walks in, “Hey guys,” he says,

“Xisuma!” yells False, “how did you get here?!”

“Somehow, my admin powers got restored, and I thought that it might be time for us to leave,” replies Xisuma, he then opens up a portal,

The other hermits then go through the portal, 

“Come on,” says False, grabbing Grian’s hand,

Grian doesn’t move, “False, I can’t,” he says, “go back and have a good life, I know you don’t want to kill me so go back to hermitcraft, forget about me.”

“No,” says False, “stop acting like an idiot, you’re coming with us.”

Grian takes a deep breath before he gives False a hug and pushes her backward through the portal, Grian then snaps his fingers and the portal disappears.

Dr. Rotter smiles, “I didn’t think you had it in you,” he says before suddenly Grian is strangling him,

“You deserve this,” says Grian, a few minutes later, Grian walks away from the dead doctor’s body,

As he walks down the hallways, Grian encounters multiple groups of shadow creatures, they stand no chance,

“Are you looking for me?” asks One, mockingly, 

Grian doesn’t reply,

“Oh, so you’re playing hard to get, this will be fun.” says One, he then materialises in front of Grian, “come at me,”

Grian summons a sword to his hand, he doesn’t say a word,

One laughs a little, “so eager to fight are we?” he says, “Why can’t we talk this out like the gods we are?”

“You killed and tortured my friends,” says Grian,

“No, you tortured them,” replies One, “and I always made sure that they respawned.”

“Either way, you still kidnapped us,” says Grian,

“Touché,” replies One, “but that doesn’t change anything,”

Grian was about to respond when suddenly he feels a sharp pain in his arm, One had hit him with a knife. Grian pulls out the knife and rushes the older watcher, slashing with his sword. One simply summons his own sword and blocks the attack with ease before knocking Grian’s sword from his hands,

“It seems that you have gotten better with a sword,” remarks One, “even if it is minuscule,” One then goes on the offensive, his attacks leaving large cuts all over Grian’s body before he kicks Grian in the stomach; launching him down the hallway and into a door, “then again, you never were good with a sword to begin with,” says One, walking up to Grian, “you always did better with magic,”

Grian summons a black flame in his hand and shoots it out in front of him like a flamethrower,

“Impressive,” says One, “considering how weak you are,” he then waves his hand and the fire turns to smoke, One then creates a ball of black fire and hurls it at Grian, hitting him in the chest and igniting his sweater, “pathetic,” says One, “you will never be able to stand up to me,”

“Who said I need to?” asks Grian, 

“What are you…” is all One can get out before he is cut in two, Grian then watches the older watcher turn to dust,

“Here, let me help you with that,” says One’s killer, the fire on Grian then instantly extinguishes, “you’re welcome for the save,” the man says,

“Who are you?” asks Grian, noticing his wounds closing up before his eyes,

“I’m your boss,” the man replies, his red eyes seemingly judging his soul, “Sorry I’m late, I had to take care of a few things.”

“It’s fine,” replies Grian, “you saved my life, I have nothing to complain about.”

The man smiles, “Grian, we both know that’s a lie, you want to see your friends again.”

Grian gets up from the floor, “Will One be coming back?” he asks, ignoring the man’s comment,

“No, I fired him, now he’s mortal… and dead, I’ll show him the error of his ways before I let him go.”

“Let him go?!” says Grian,

“Let me rephrase that,” replies the man, “One or George, if you want to use his real name, will be forced to relive his life and realize his mistakes, after that, he will be allowed to reincarnate with no memory of this life. The goal is to make everyone end their life as a good person at heart.”

“And you think One is good at heart?” says Grian,

“Well, yes,” replies the man, “I was the one who hired him. Back then, he wasn’t much different then you; he was full of potential and loved to play jokes. After all, he only started being evil after I left him alone and again after Two died. But that doesn’t matter right now, you’re going back to hermitcraft, whether you like it or not.”

“But what about the things I’ve done?” asks Grian,

The man smiles, “Grian, in my eyes, you have been forgiven; you attempted to make the ultimate sacrifice so that your friends could be happy, you didn’t just try to, you almost did. I think Ren and Impulse will understand that, and if they don’t, I’ll talk to them.”

“What?! What do you mean?” says Grian,

“I’m coming with you, I’m going to take some time away from my constant work and help you and False learn how to truly be watchers, and after all you two have gone through, I think you deserve it.”

“You’re going to help us?!” says Grian,

“Yes,” replies the man, smiling, “oh and by the way, my name is CreatorXXIII or X, for short.”

“Grian,” says Grian, extending his arm out to the god,

X shakes Grian’s hand and opens a portal before smiling, “last one to hermitcraft is a rotten egg.” he then takes a step back and disappears into it,

“I’m not losing that easily,” says Grian before following X through the portal,

THE END (FOR NOW…)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this, shout out to Library_Bug11, SuperiorSerperior27, Crazy05monkey, pyramids_hologramed, Maddox_Named_Galaxy, boiyouwhat, Peregrine234, TekrarSatilacak, and MoonDustReflects. thank you all and I hope you have a great rest of your day.


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